NCJ Number
81112
Date Published
1981
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This report covers a 2 1/2-day crime analysis training session held at the North Providence Police Department (Rhode Island) in 1981. It focuses on the duties and activities of the department's crime analysis unit, whose personnel received assistance at the training session from staff of the ICAP (Integrated Criminal Apprehension Program).
Abstract
During the session, ICAP was presented as a structured method for making data-based decisions rather than basing them on experience or tradition. An overview of the crime analysis function in ICAP emphasized the duties, responsibilities, and daily workload of an effective crime analysis unit. Participants also took part in a practical exercise, in which the crime analysis process involved in establishing a matrix for case correlation purposes was demonstrated. The report indicates that the North Providence Police Department has committed one patrol officer to the crime analysis function on a full-time basis; the duties of this position, the police records analyst are delineated. Automated capabilities are provided by a TRS-80-II microcomputer with five disc drives. All data collation is currently performed via the computer. The report recommends that the crime analysis unit be placed in an area that will given open access to the unit for all personnel, that spot maps (used to determine geographic crime patterns) be available, that the local crime analyst visit other crime analysis unit and observe their activities, that collation of data be performed on a manual basis during the initial period of the unit's formation, and that the unit's product users be surveyed to gain their input into what information they receive and the frequency of dissemination. Footnotes are included and relevant sample forms are appended.